Judge Information

Dear Judges,

Thank you so much for helping us bring the 66th Annual CHSSA State Championship to life. We’re incredibly grateful you’re here to support thousands of brilliant, passionate students from across California. Whether you’ve judged a hundred tournaments or this is your very first, please know: it’s totally normal to have questions. This tournament is large and sometimes a bit complex, and your presence, flexibility, and care make all the difference.

We’ll continue updating  this judge info packet  with all the details you’ll need. Please read it carefully before the weekend—it has everything from what to expect in your rounds to policies on feedback, tech, and more.

You’ve been signed up to judge by a coach at your school. To help everything run smoothly, here are a few important things you can do before the tournament:

1. Please make sure your contact information (phone and email) on your Tabroom profile is correct.
Here are instructions on how to do that. While in your profile, you can also update your name and pronouns if you'd like.

2. If you qualify as diversity enhancing, please update your Tabroom profile to reflect that.
Diversity can include, but is not limited to, characteristics such as race/ethnicity, gender expression, ability, and identification as part of the LGBTQ+ community. Enhancing diversity suggests that a person’s identities are different from those which have traditionally been represented or valued in a given space. When judges self-elect as diversity enhancing, it helps us put together judging panels that better reflect our students and community as a whole. Please know that registering as Diversity Enhancing is totally optional, as is entering pronouns, but when those who are able do either or both, it can help us foster a more inclusive tournament space for all.

3. Please stay available the entire day you’re scheduled to judge.
Even if we don’t use you every round, you are “on call” the full day. Stay near your phone or computer so you don’t miss a text or email. If we try to reach you and can’t get ahold of you, your school may be fined.

4. Complete the required cultural competency training.
All judges must complete the free NSDA Multicultural Competence course, which takes 15 mins adds a badge to your Tabroom profile.
If you’re newer or want a solid refresher, we also encourage you to complete the full NSDA Adjudicator Training. It takes just over an hour and is free.

Want to go further?

• Learn more about how implicit bias impacts students in speech and debate

• Explore how to judge with cultural competence

Who to contact if you have questions:
Your school’s coach is always your first and best point of contact—both before and during the tournament. They are the ones who can help with schedule changes, answer questions, and make sure you have what you need.

Thank you again for being here. This tournament doesn’t happen without you.

Warmly,
Angelique Ronald (she/her)
State Tournament Director, CHSSA

HELP, I'M A JUDGE AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT I NEED TO DO!

First of all, thank you for volunteering to judge at the CHSSA State Championship! You’re an essential part of making this tournament amazing, and we’re here to make sure you feel supported every step of the way. 

Here are the best things you can do right now to get prepared to judge at State 2025:

1. Complete the NSDA Judge Training Courses

We recommend starting with the NSDA Learn courses for judge training. These are broken down by your judging pool (speech, debate, or congress), and there are even advanced-level courses for those who are more experienced or want a quick refresher.

NSDA Judge Training Courses

2. Complete the NSDA Intro to Multicultural Competence Course

Important! Every judge must complete the Intro to Multicultural Competence course this year. This course will earn you a badge on your Tabroom profile, which we can see, so make sure you complete it!

To help ensure everything goes smoothly and no teams incur fines, please make sure this mandatory step is completed. We appreciate your cooperation!

NSDA Intro to Multicultural Competence

You’re doing great! We’ll send out more info soon, but for now, completing these courses will get you well on your way to feeling prepared and confident. We appreciate you so much and can’t wait to see you in action at the tournament!

Judge Requirements & Obligations

Judge Obligations

• Debate:

• Friday & Saturday: 1 judge per 2 debate entries

• Sunday: 1 judge per 3 debate entries

• Speech:

• Prelims: 1 judge per 4 speech entries

• Elims: 1 judge per 5 speech entries

• Congress: 1 judge per 3 entries (or fraction thereof)

Important Notes on Judge Commitment

• Judges are committed through the end of the tournament. While we understand this may be different from what many are used to at invitationals and other tournaments, this is the standard expectation at culminating, large-format championship tournaments.

• We appreciate everyone’s cooperation in making this event a success—ensuring that every round is judged fairly and effectively is what allows students to have the best possible experience.

• We do allow single-day judges, but they must be available for all rounds on the day(s) they are signed up for.

• First-year out (class of 2024) judges are NOT allowed.

• There is no judge buyout option—teams must provide their full judge obligation. That said, if you need help finding a judge to hire, please email me (Director@CHSSA.org)  and I can try to help get you connected to someone available to judge. 

[Click here] for a full breakdown of judge requirements and the schedule.

Judge Background Information

We’re asking coaches to provide a bit of background on their judges and rate them based on experience when registering. This helps our tab staff place judges more effectively.

This doesn’t need to be super detailed—just enough to give us a sense of who’s judging and how we can best use them.

Neutral Judges

This year, we’re clarifying the role of Neutral Judges—judges who are entered by a school to fulfill its obligation but have no direct affiliation with the team.

A Neutral Judge is someone who:
✓ Has no prior connection to your team
✓ Does not know your students and could not identify them
✓ Has never coached, worked with, or interacted with your students in any meaningful way

Example: If you hired a college debater you've never met to cover your obligation, and they have never worked with your team, trained your students, or even interacted with them, they can likely be classified as neutral and judge your team’s entries.

How to indicate a Neutral Judge:
During registration, you can mark a judge as "Neutral" if they meet the above criteria. This helps us with fair judge placement and ensures the tournament runs smoothly.

If you have any questions about whether a judge qualifies as neutral, feel free to reach out!

New for 2025: Mandatory Judge Check-In

To keep the tournament running smoothly, we are instituting mandatory judge check-in twice a day for all judges scheduled to judge that day.

How it works:
✓ Check-in happens at the Judge House
✓ Twice daily:

• Morning check-in – At least 30 minutes before the first scheduled round of the day
• Afternoon check-in – At least 30 minutes before the first scheduled round after lunch

At check-in, judges will receive their meal vouchers for that day’s complimentary meals.

Judges who do not check in at least 30 minutes before their scheduled round will be subject to fines for missing obligations until they check in. This system ensures we have judges in place when and where they are needed, keeping the tournament fair and efficient for all competitors.

Thank you for your cooperation in making this tournament a success!